A few weeks ago a courrier stopped by with a letter from an attorney saying that my neighbor whose property abuts my back yard was entered in a contract with AT&T to build a 170’ cell phone tower on his land. We are a rural neighborhood in a very classic New England country town, but we are a neighborhood nonetheless. Within 1500’ of the tower (the distance which is considered safe) there are 65 single family homes. In addition to all of the potential health risks and the eyesore in a beautiful neighborhood, property values are estimated to decrease 30-40% which approximates to $28 million in loss. A couple looking to gain financially should not be able to destroy so much for so many others.

This is a photo (photoshopped) to show what the view of the tower (250’ from my property line) may look like.

So here is what I need from you guys. In most states local municipalities decide where a cell tower can or can’t go. In Connecticut (and Vermont) instead there is a siting council which determines whether or not a proposed tower can go up. Unfortunately, they typically allow towers to go up with a pass rate of about 96%. The 4% that don’t go up are almost always because an alternate site has been proposed and will go up there instead. Since our local elected officials do not have the final say they are going to be insturmental to help us to find an alternate site. I am asking everyone reading this to take a moment to sign our petition here. If you’d like more info about this please check out our website: Protect the Purchase.